This invention pertains to the fastener art and, more particularly, to a system for installing panel fasteners. The invention is particularly applicable for use in the manual installation of molded plastic ratchet fasteners and will be described with particular reference thereto. It will be appreciated, however, that the invention has broader application and may advantageously be employed in installing other types of fasteners in many different environments.
There are many different automatic and semi-automatic fastener feeding and installation systems known in the prior art. Typically, these systems include pneumatic, hydraulic, or electrical systems which continuously feed a supply of the fasteners directly to the chuck or discharge element of an installation tool. The tool is manually or mechanically aligned with the fastener receiving opening and actuated to drive the fastener into the opening.
These systems are particularly advantageous at assembly line stations where large numbers of fasteners must be continuously installed and/or in environments where the primary job is fastener installation. The systems are, however, generally expensive and require significant floor space because of the associated pressure lines, power connections, and the like. Thus, at assembly line locations or other environments where there is frequent product changeover, or where only a few fasteners must be installed at spaced time intervals, the expense and space requirements of these systems makes them difficult to justify on an economic basis. Often in such environments, fastener installation has been a strictly hand operation with the installer manually grabbing the fastener and forcing it into the opening with his fingers. Because installing fasteners in that manner is quite difficult and time consuming, workers sometimes fail to install a full complement of fasteners or to install the fasteners properly.
In view of the foregoing, it would be desirable to provide a fastener installation system which is especially suited for use in situations where there is frequent production line changeover or in situations where only a few fasteners are installed at random time intervals. The subject invention is deemed to meet these needs and others in providing a system which is simple, comparatively inexpensive, and greatly facilitates fastener installation.